SN 1987A was a peculiar type II supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy satellite of the Milky Way. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs from Earth and was the closest observed supernova since Kepler's Supernova, visible from earth in 1604.

Progenitor: Sanduleak -69 202

Distance: 51.4 kpc (168,000 ly)

Peak apparent magnitude: +2.9

Constellation: Dorado

Galactic coordinates: G279.7-31.9

Spectral class: Type II (peculiar)